Many an eyeball has been rolled at the obvious declaration that “every vote counts,” but the cliché may carry some real weight when it comes to southwestern Utah’s municipal primary elections.

Most residents across Washington and Iron counties have a chance to vote Tuesday for in races for city councils, but many may not even know the election is happening, at least based on recent examples.

In the last municipal primary season two years ago St. George finished with a turnout of 10.2 percent, while Hurricane was 9.6 percent. Washington City finished comparatively high at 14.8 percent. In Iron County, Cedar City finished at 21.3 percent.

While those were historically dismal numbers, they actually weren’t much different from past races.

In 2013, there were candidates running in St. George, with an estimated population of nearly 80,000 at the time, who squeaked by in the primary with fewer than 1,500 votes.

The 2011 primary saw only a 15.5 percent turnout in Washington County, with 5,653 ballots cast out of 36,574 registered voters.

Election officials are expecting much of the same this year.

Through Thursday, election officials in St. George were reporting 175 ballots cast after nearly two weeks of early voting availability.

Jud Burkett / The Spectrum & Daily News

The low turnout has traditionally helped local races to be close, though, something atypical in Southern Utah, where heavy Republican majorities often render national and state races noncompetitive in even-numbered years.

In 2011, Jimmie Hughes earned a seat on the St. George City Council by garnering only 111 votes more than Gloria Shakespeare, and another candidate, Ed Baca, fell short by only 200 votes. The city’s population at the time was estimated at more than 75,000.

That same year in Washington, Ron Truman earned the last city council spot by 38 votes, despite a city population of more than 20,000.

And in Cedar City, population 29,000, Nina Barnes earned the last council seat in 2009 by only 29 votes.

While national elections tend to dominate peoples’ attention, local races often have just as much impact, if not more, on voters’ day-to-day lives, said Henrie Walton, director of the DSU Institute of Politics and Public Affairs.

“Often times we don’t notice that and pay more attention to all of the flashier, bigger elections,” he said. “This is maybe less glamorous but equally important.”

There are no primaries required in cities where there are fewer than twice the number of candidates as there are available positions. Cities such as Santa Clara, which has four candidates running for two seats, and Ivins and Hurricane, both of which have two candidates running unopposed, are not holding primaries.

For more information on specific races, including polling locations, click here.

St. George City Clerk Christina Fernandez said voters can cast a ballot from any polling location as long as they are registered and present valid identification.

Voters can also log onto vote.utah.gov and search for election information by address.

St. George districts 39, 41, 46: SunRiver Community Center4275 South Country Club Drive

St. George districts 40, 45, 49: Sunrise Ridge Intermediate School3167 South 2350 East

St. George districts 43: Crimson View Elementary School2835 East 2000 South

St. George districts 44: George Washington Academy2277 South 3000 East

Voter identificaion is required. For additional information, please go to vote.utah.gov or contact Christina Fernandez, the St. George, City Recorder at 435-627-4003 or at christina.fernandez@sgcity.org.

Any changes to the polling location will be posted on the City's website - sgcity.org.